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2023 TCU Football Position Review: Cornerbacks

We look back at the TCU cornerbacks’ performance in the 2023 season.

Let’s get this out of the way: 2023 was a terrible year for the TCU secondary. The Horned Frogs’ defense was awful overall, but they ranked 110th in passing yards allowed per game, with 253 yards against. To make matters worse, TCU allowed an average of 290 passing yards per game in their seven losses this season. This season, opposing quarterbacks averaged an incredible 12.7 yards per connection against TCU. The Frogs allowed 43 explosive pass plays this year, ranking 87th nationally. To make matters worse, TCU only made 8 interceptions. The secondary finished with 39 PBUs for the year, ranking 83rd. You can argue if it was scheme, skill, or a combination of the two, but Sonny Dykes had no choice but to fire defensive coordinator Joe Gillespie. The Frogs had 6 members of the secondary enter the transfer portal, and it speaks much about what the coaching staff believed about the players they had on the roster.

Let’s start with Josh Newton. Newton was by far the best cornerback on the team this year, and I believe almost everyone knew that heading into the season. He finished with the highest PFF grade of anyone on the TCU defense this year, 77.4. Newton received a pass coverage grade of 77.8 from PFF this year, ranking him 81st among the 416 FBS corners who played at least 300 defensive snaps. According to PFF, Newton was targeted 52 times during the year and allowed 25 receptions. Newton led the team with six PBUs and one interception. PFF had Newton with 33 tackles on the year with a missed tackle rate of 16.7%, ranking 250th among corners.

Josh Newton 2023 Grade: B+

Next up is Florida transfer Avery Helm. When he committed, TCU fans were quite enthusiastic about this transfer, but he did not perform as well as expected. Helm’s PFF grade for the season is 60.4, while his coverage grade is 58.7. Helm was targeted 37 times in coverage this year, allowing 20 receptions. For instance, Josh Newton played 802 snaps this year and allowed only 5 more catches than Helm. He added only four PBUs and no interceptions. He made 24 tackles in his 449 snaps, missing only 7.7% of attempted tackles. TCU

TCU’s defense needs a strong offseason from Avery Helm in order to progress next year. For the first time in a long time, the Frogs lack a definite #1 cornerback, and the defense hasn’t been very strong in recent seasons.

Avery Helm 2023 Grade: C-

Channing This year, Canada transferred to TCU from Trinity Valley Community College. Canada was the top junior college cornerback in the country, and he was a player I was looking forward to seeing this season. He shared time with Helm opposite Newton this year, totaling 320 snaps. PFF rated Canada 61 overall and 63.8 in coverage. I believed Canada showed sparks early in the season, but the improvement didn’t last. Canada was targeted by opposing quarterbacks 19 times this year, and he allowed 13 catches. Canada was particularly terrible against Texas Tech, where he was targeted eight times and allowed eight catches for 57 yards (which isn’t a bad yardage total for being targeted so frequently). Canada’s failure to produce any PBUs or interceptions is cause for concern going forward. Like Helm, TCU needs Canada to have a big offseason.

2024 Outlook

In my perspective, TCU’s biggest question mark moving into the spring is the cornerback position. Based on the team’s activities in the transfer portal, I believe the coaches agree. The Frogs signed Andre Seldon Jr. from New Mexico State. The 5’9 cornerback began his career at Michigan before transferring to New Mexico State. I believe he will be considered for a nickel role next season. He recorded one interception and eight PBUs last season.

The Frogs also sign Utah transfer JaTravis McCloud. The 5-11 cornerback appeared in every game for the Utes over the last two seasons. McCloud had just one PBU last season, and PFF evaluated him at 46.4 out of 471 snaps. To make a difference at TCU, he’ll need to improve significantly.

TCU loses cornerbacks Jaionte McMillen and Mason White, who did not see much playing time.

Champ Lewis and Vernon Glover are already on the Frogs’ roster, thus the two corner positions will be highly competitive. As previously stated, the TCU coaching staff must do some real effort in developing these players because the corner position does not look promising at the moment.